"The president will give me a lot of space and discretion to get to the deal," U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff told top Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov in a recorded phone call obtained by Bloomberg.
Ending the Russia-Ukraine war moved back into the headlines last week with press reports of a 28-point U.S.-Russian peace plan.
The plan’s heavy slant toward Russian positions sparked immediate alarm in Kyiv and other European capitals, as did President Donald Trump’s suggestion of a short deadline by which Ukraine had to agree.
A flurry of diplomacy over the weekend seems to have improved Ukraine’s position.
The British, French, and German leaders issued a counterproposal that would protect
VNIIR-Progress is a Russian state institute involved in designing electronic warfare systems, including the Kometa antenna used to interfere with satellite, radio, and radar signals.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Nov. 25 that there is no specific deadline for Ukraine to accept the initially drafted 28-point proposal, easing previous statements that implied he hoped for a Thanksgiving agreement. "The deadline for me is when it’s over," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
"The absolute condition for a good peace is a set of very robust security guarantees and not paper guarantees. Ukraine has had its share of promises that were shattered by successive Russian aggressions, and real rock-solid guarantees are a necessity," French President Emmanuel Macron said.
The arrests of NABU detectives in July were seen by critics as part of a crackdown on the bureau triggered by its investigations against Zelensky's top allies.
"The original 28-Point Peace Plan, which was drafted by the United States, has been fine-tuned, with additional input from both sides, and there are only a few remaining points of disagreement," U.S. President Donald Trump said.
Hello, this is Jared Goyette reporting from Kyiv on day 1,371 of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The capital is still recovering from a massive overnight attack on energy infrastructure that killed at least six people and injured 20 others — several apartment buildings were hit and caught fire, authorities said. All eyes remain on the peace negotiations, with President Volodymyr Zelensky expected to visit the U.S. soon to meet his U.S. counterpart, President Donald Trump, and finalize
Ukrainian forces destroyed a Russian Il-76 heavy transport aircraft as well as an experimental A-60 airborne laser complex, according to Robert "Madyar" Brovdi, commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, on Nov. 25.
As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was hit with a large-scale corruption scandal and a controversial peace plan at the same time earlier this month, his position seemed desperate and vulnerable to many.
But in fact the foreign policy crisis helped Zelensky to sideline the domestic controversy.
He presented himself as a defender of Ukraine's national interests while holding talks on a U.S. ultimatum that could force Ukraine to accept peace on Russia’s terms.
As a result, the foreign pol
"We look forward to organizing a visit of Ukraine's president to the U.S. at the earliest suitable date in November to complete final steps and make a deal with President (Donald) Trump," said Rustem Umerov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council.
U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll traveled to Abu Dhabi on Nov. 24 for negotiations with Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine's military intelligence chief, and a Russian delegation, Driscoll's spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Tolbert, confirmed to Axios.
Forces operating under the "Coalition of the Willing" would be deployed to rear locations, such as Kyiv or Odesa, to provide security and training, Macron said.
A Ukrainian army of this size would still remain the second-largest European force after Russia and put it close to its current wartime strength of about 900,000 service members.
Several multistory residential buildings caught fire and at least six people have been killed in what the Energy Ministry called "a massive combined attack...on infrastructure facilities."
"Keeping the assets permanently 'on ice' or turning them into a bargaining chip between Russia and another power only prolongs the conflict," Iryna Mudra, deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelensky's office in charge of legal matters, told the Kyiv Independent in an email.
U.S. President Donald Trump's plan for ending Russia’s war has been criticized as effectively imposing the Kremlin's terms for Ukraine’s surrender.
But the plan also poses a direct threat to Europe's security architecture, analysts and diplomats believe.
The proposal requires Ukraine to cede territory, limit its alliances, and sharply reduce its military — conditions far more sweeping than any proposal discussed in previous negotiation rounds.
The plan is a major blow to the principles on whi
In Taganrog, Rostov Oblast, a fire reportedly broke out at the Beriev Aircraft Company, which produces Russian amphibious seaplanes and the rare A-50 spy plane.
The revised version is more aligned with Ukraine's position, but negotiating a final agreement is "very difficult," President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Nov. 25.
A Czech company has been accused of selling Chinese-made drones to Ukraine at steep markups — sometimes nearly 20 times the original price — and is under investigation for alleged tax evasion, Czech media reported on Nov. 24.
The report comes amid speculation that the President's Office was allegedly preparing to retaliate against Klymenko and Arakhamia over their independent stances on a large-scale corruption scandal at state nuclear power monopoly Energoatom.
"Ukraine has legalized shooting draft officers" — this was the shocking claim that spread rapidly across Russian media in recent weeks.
Unsurprisingly for Russian sources of information, it was nowhere near the truth, and was instead designed to undermine Ukraine’s mobilization efforts, and spread chaos and fear among society.
As Ukraine faces the grueling demands of prolonged war, its mobilization system has become an especially sensitive topic — precisely the space where Russian disinformati
Ukraine remains ready for peace talks with Russia but will never legally recognize the Russian occupation or accept restrictions on its army size or alliances, Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said.
Hello, this is Kateryna Hodunova reporting from Kyiv on day 1,370 of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Today's top story:
Russian forces are attempting to push Ukrainian troops from the eastern bank of the Oskil River in the Kupiansk sector of the front line in Kharkiv Oblast, Viktor Tregubov, head of communications for Ukraine's Joint Forces, said on national television on Nov. 24.
While the situation in the settlements of Kupiansk and Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi remains unchanged, Russian troo
"I think we all recognize that part of getting a final end to this war will require for Ukraine to feel that it is safe and it is never going to be invaded or attacked again," U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
While Russian attacks pounded Ukraine’s power system, one energy company remained mostly unscathed — becoming the cash cow that fueled the largest corruption scheme of President Volodymyr Zelensky's presidency.
Earlier this month, Ukraine's anti-corruption bureau (NABU) raided the homes of ex-Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko and Zelensky's former business partner Timur Mindich in connection with a $100 million kickback scheme involving Energoatom, the state-owned nuclear operator. So far, NA
Kyiv's European partners reportedly pitched the plan as a counter-proposal to a 28-point document backed by the Trump administration, which was criticized for heavily favoring Russia.